It’s the third day of Aftershock and a cool breeze has blown in to Discovery Park to settle us further into the fall season. We couldn’t have felt more ready to show up early for some awesome rising acts.
Here were our top performances of the day…
A hometown-heroes band from here in Sacramento, Nerv, brought a bold hardcore sound with a refreshing twist of lime. Dillon sings with such clear, pronounced vocals that you can hear the passion for his material come through. Every song resonated with their crowd, who were there to have a great time. The band was even invited to do a much more intimate acoustic set at one of the festival vendors.
Coming from the longest island in New York, the band Deadlands is on their very first national tour. Kasey, the front woman, introduced each member of the group, each with a signature growling scream. Her gravelly groaning screams and haunting cleans framed by hard booming riffs created a circle pit that took up half the entire crowd. Their chemistry was compelling enough that they had police officers and construction workers listening in from the highway above us.
Sleeping with Sirens was an instant crowd favorite. The emo kids young and old joined the main stage eagerly, whether it was for the sake of nostalgia or because they wanted to witness the iconic band’s talents. They ended their set with their classics, including If You Can’t Hang. Mosh pits and crowd surfers spanned the audience.
The atmosphere of a Kublai Khan TX set is closer to a metalcore boot camp than a musical set. With such punishing breakdowns, Matt, the vocalist, stood like a king looking down over his domain, barking like a dog at his subjects. There seemed no way to dance to the music except to mosh.
Whitechapel is one of the originals in the deathcore genre. As they took the stage, you couldn’t help but feel the visceral excitement from the fans. As they started not just one mosh pit, but several, that eventually collided and morphed into a giant odd shaped pit, where moshers were running in a figure 8 pattern, smashing bodies and throwing elbows. The vocalist enunciated every lyric incredibly through his rancid scream.
Behind them was the original logo the band used back in 2006, which seemingly symbolized going back to the roots of the band. In our upcoming interview with the band, guitarist Ben Savage told us, “It just seemed logical to take what we’ve learned throughout the years and kind of go back to the original sound that got us into heavy heavy music in the first place.” This idea definitely shows in their new single, “A Visceral Retch.”
We still have one day left, friends! Stay tuned for more news on the festival!
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